Pretty Raelin and Lincoln Logs "Cars"

Okay, I re-uploaded the pictures for those of you that couldn't see them. I've had this same problem before, but usually it happens sooner if it happens at all. This time it worked for about a week before the pictures disappeared--Usually it happens right away or within a day--Anyone else had that problem before? Anyway, hopefully it will work this time!

While I'm here I'll add a quick anecdote: This morning I went to get Ryker out of his room and when I opened his door he said, "Hello, my friend!!"

Raelin actually posed for pictures for me! Pretty ones where she wasn't making ugly faces the whole time. It was amazing! She hasn't done that for a REALLY long time. Just look at how pretty she is!

Ryker almost always will smile for the camera. Look at all that hair! It's so cute, but today I just couldn't let him go to church looking like such a ragamuffin. So I cut it. And Brice's. Ryker's is really cute. A little lopsided, but it's still cute. For those of you that don't know, I LOVE Ryker's hair! I think it is so great, and I know that the bowl cut is outdated, but I just love it.

Here's Raelin posing for me some more. So cute. I was playing around with the camera trying to figure out the thing where you get it to focus on something far away with something out of focus in the foreground. The flowers are from Brice to me. Funny story: The other day, we said family prayer and Raelin was a little out of line so after the prayer was over, I turned to her and told her that we need to be respectful to Heavenly Father during prayers and not worry about what other people are doing. Brice was gone by the time my tiny little speech was over. I got out of bed and started the day, but something was missing. I finally figured out that Brice hadn't given me a hug goodbye! I know, I know, I'm such a sap, but whatever. So I called him, still a little groggy and sleepy and complained, mostly jokingly, that he had better come up with something good to make it up to me. So a few nights later, he got William and Angel to watch the kids for a little while and he picked me up from school and had me change into something nice and when I came downstairs he had a candlelit dinner all ready for us! There were flowers and a chicken Alfredo pasta dish he'd made himself (he's a great cook) and steak, sparkling grape juice, and ice cream, all compliments of William (what a nice brother!) and yummy seasoned French bread that Raelin picked out. It was all so scrumptious! I'd say he went above and beyond the call of duty. He's forgiven!

So, our dogs are pretty ridiculous. Take a look (who do you think is top dog around here?): Wait, first a story--today the monsters escaped as we were trying to load kids in the car for church. They ran off and no amount of calling or bribing was going to entice them to return. Beasts. So Brice set off on foot and I in the car. Calling and coaxing from behind and from the side just wasn't cutting it. Meanwhile, they are traipsing through neighbors' yards and running down the walking path and --eh-- taking care of business, etc. Finally, I got ahead of them at the end of the walking path, probably making some enemies of other church members as I went speeding by and eventually stopping on the wrong side of the road (I think I scared one car's passengers to death with that abrupt maneuver!). I got out in my skirt and SANDALS, ventured into the ridiculously deep snow, and grabbed Kira, who knew she was busted, and dragged her along in my pursuit to get Jax, who was nervously trying to ignore me and trying to brush me off by wallowing in the snow. I finally got them both and glared at them and scolded them loudly about what bad dogs they were. I turned around to find my home teacher standing at the curb! Oh, the shame! He asked if I was having fun (he's a good-humored guy) and I said "oh, LOADS!" He asked if he could help and asked if I wanted them in the front or the back seat. I said, "The trunk!" So he opened the trunk and I threw them in (okay, I can't really throw an 80 pound dog or a 30 pound dog any place, but you get the idea). An older couple driving by stopped and postulated that the dogs were in trouble. Understatement of the century. The wife talked to me after Sacrament meeting and she was very amused by the whole thing. It's a little bit funny now, but at the time, grrrrrrr. So, Jax spent the next three hours in Kira's crate which is just a little too small for him (is there an acronym or icon or any other symbol that you can use to indicate dripping sarcasm? I need one) and Kira spent the next three hours tied outside in the mud and snow. Serves them right. Nuisance animals! It's a good thing we love them and that they clean the floors. Oh, and the first guy that gave talk at church today said something about living in an area where all your neighbors are in your ward and how it doesn't take long after an "event" for word to get around to everyone you know. Hmmm...What did he see on his way to church? So without any further adieu, here are the mongrels:

The other day, I had a group project for one of my classes that entailed videotaping Raelin, Brice and I building with Lincoln Logs. We had to make one thing assigned and one other thing that we could make up. By the time we finished the assigned thing, we were about out of time. So Brice suggested we make a car really quick. Raelin was the only one allowed to touch the little pieces, so Brice was trying to get her to put them in the right places for wheels. She put a little one under each end of one medium log. Brice was trying to get her to put more little logs under another medium log so that we would have four wheels, but Raelin looked at the one log with wheels and called it good. Clever girl! The next day, the kids had our set of Lincoln Logs out and had turned ALL the pieces into little cars! There were about 25 little log cars driving around the living room! Funny kids!

While Raelin did let me get some pictures of pretty, smiling Raelin, she also wanted to take some goofy ones as well:

Look at that mouth! I told her she got it from Aunt Melissa. I've heard stories...

Oh, and by the way, Raelin picked out her own clothes that day and I thought she looked adorable! I did her hair and it turned out pretty cute too, even though you can't really see it in any of these photos. Brice has been doing her hair more lately since he has the kids all day by himself twice a week, and he comes up with some pretty cute styles too! And they are nice and neat--you definitely wouldn't think a dad had done it. Today for church he even used bobby pins to keep the "layers" she'd cut herself (see previous post) out of her face. I didn't know he even knew how those things work. Heck, I barely know how they work!